Club celebrates 35th anniversary with gala dinner

The CAB celebrates its 35th anniversary today. The date will be marked with a gala dinner, to be held at the CAB Pavilion, at 8 p.m., and in which athletes will be present, in charge of education, officials, coaches and drigents, as well as guys from the history of the club and several guests, including the Regional Director of Youth and Sport and the Regional Secretary of Education, representing the President of the Regional Government. During dinner, the club will recognize people who have made an exceptional contribution to the sport and history of Friends of the Basketball. In this sense, the CAB will assign to two people the title of Honorary Partner and to four partners the title of Merit Partners. In addition to the distinctions and some interventions, including that of Sidónio Fernandes, founder and historical president of the institution, and that of Francisco Gomes, current chairman of the board, there will still be time for moments of musical fun. The CAB was founded in 1979 by a group of lovers of the modality who then assumed the mission that still appears as the main vocation of Friends, which is the formation of children and young people for basketball. In 1986 the club started participating in national women's competitions, and in 1989 it started participating in national races in the maculine sector. In 1997, Friends inaugurated their pavilion, which still serves as the club's headquarters, and in 1998 was considered an institution of public utility. Over the years, and especially in the female sector, the CAB has won dozens of national trophies and a few hundred regional titles in the various ranks. The club is now one of the main references of the sport in the country, being one of only seven Portuguese institutions to have won the Statute of Clube Formador, honor that recognizes the excellence of the work it develops in the name of Training. Currently, the CAB moves around three hundred people daily, among athletes, coaches, employees, volunteers and managers. The training schools cover a broad age spectrum ranging from the Baby CAB (children from 3 years old) to seniors. The club also has four teams involved in national competitions, including the Women's League, the Men's League, the 1st Women's Division (in partnership with the Maritime CS) and the CNB-1 (in partnership with Funchal Times).